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Fall of London
Dispositions The offensive on London began at 9pm on Sunday. The Martians had earlier in the day been forced to retreat to their then-primary encampment at Horsell Common after losing one of their number while attacking the towns of Weybridge and Shepperton. At 9pm, near St. George's Hill - where one of three Martian fighting-machines had been damaged earlier that evening by artillery fire - four other fighting-machines joined up with the first three. The seven fighting-machines then proceeded to establish an attacking line twelve miles wide (between St. George's Hill, Weybridge, and Send). At this time, over 115 artillery pieces had been deployed covering London. Heavy artillery pieces had been established in a defensive line near Kingston, Richmond, and Wimbledon, while smaller artillery pieces were placed in various areas of cover south of this defensive line around the villages of Staines, Ockham, Ditton, Esher, and Hounslow. Up to the opening of this offensive, the British military authorities were confident in their defenses, given that a Martian had been destroyed earlier in the day at Weybridge. Black Smoke attack Main Article: Black Smoke From their offensive line, the Martians completely saturated the valley of the Thames with Black Smoke, and used their heat-rays on any artillery positions that were exposed in full view, or on hills above the smoke. By midnight, the defensive line south of Richmond and Kingston had been broken, which led the military authorities to advise the government to evacuate London. While this was happening, the fourth Martian invasion ship landed at Bushy Park, close to Hampton Court Palace. Before dawn the next day, the evacuation order was given out to the public. Evacuation order The public dispatch read: The Martians are able to discharge enormous clouds of a black and poisonous vapour by means of rockets. They have smothered our batteries, destroyed Richmond, Kingston, and Wimbledon, and are advancing slowly towards London, destroying everything on the way. It is impossible to stop them. There is no safety from the Black Smoke but in instant flight. This sparked the beginning of the Great Panic as six million Londoners embarked on an en-masse stampede northwards and eastwards out of the city. Before the Government and military leadership moved to Birmingham to establish a new headquarters, they had ordered the railway companies to prepare special trains to assist in the evacuation, which had commenced that same hour with the London & North Western Railway running trains from the goods yard at Chalk Farm Station, avoiding the crowds which were already growing out of control at its Euston terminus. The Midland, Great Northern, Great Central, Great Eastern and South East & Chatham companies were also notified, setting up evacuation routes out of London by rail to the north, east and south-east. By 10 o'clock the police's grasp was crumbling and at 12 the railway authorities had also begun to lose coherancy. Order in the city quickly broke down as desparate mobs of fleeing Londoners blocked the streets and converged upon the railway termini, making escape from the centre of London by rail practically impossible. There was all-out fighting for space in the carriages at Chalk Farm and dozens of people were killed when a departing train ploughed straight through the thronging crowds in the goods yard. At midday the Pool of London filled had with boats looking to turn a profit by ferrying out refugees but only an hour later the edge of a Black Smoke cloud had appear by Blackfriars Bridge causing the boats and barges to clog the northern arch of Tower Bridge. The first Martian appeared beyond the clock tower at 2 and wading down the river, reducing the ships to wreckage that floated down to Limehouse. Further violent scenes took place at 3 o'clock with people being crushed, stabbed and shot in the streets round stations like St Pancras, Liverpool Street and Kings Cross which leads the police to attack the crowd. When the engine drivers refused to reenter London people began to clog the northern roads out of the city. Already a Martian had been seen in Barnes and Black Smoke was creeping down the Thames. One of the worst examples of the panic was the road through Chipping Barnet where many people were crushed by the stampede. Strategy Because the Martians could have annihilated the entire population of London during Day Four, but did not do so, it is surmised that the goal of the offensive at this stage was simply the destruction of military opposition and the demoralization of the civil populace needed. These goals were achieved as the only offensive operations embarked on by British forces after Day Four were the preparation of mines and pitfalls across the midland counties. The Martians did not advance beyond Central London until Day Five, which by that time was relatively clear of refugees. London was totally under Martian occupation by Day Six (sightings at Highgate and Neasden confirmed this). Their final base was established in London on Primrose Hill, the site of the seventh Martian landing. Aftermath of the Fall By Day Six, there were reports of a Martian fighting-machine reaching Barnes and a failed attempt to destroy another fighting-machine at Waltham Abbey Powder Mills. The railway companies managed to recover their coherency and special trains were being run by the Midland Railway from St. Albans to relieve the pressure of the fleeing London populace on the home counties. By this time the central London termini would have been rendered untenable by the fleeing masses and advancing Martians. By Day Seven of the invasion, the Martians were making forays into Essex, in the process destroying any remaining pockets of military resistance. One of these forays (consisting of three fighting-machines) engaged and destroyed several artillery batteries near Shoeburyness on the way to the Essex coast, in which they attempted to cut off refugees fleeing by ship. This attempt was thwarted by the Royal Navy, which was the second major military setback for the Martian invasion after the destruction of the one Martian fighting-machine on Day Three. =Sources= Category:Battles